Families get help to kick start rebuilding in Samoa

HELP ON HAND: An offi cial from DMO discusses the assistance with a survivor of Cyclone Evan at Magiagi. [Samoa Observer]

Some families whose homes were completely blown away by Cyclone Evan three weeks ago received help yesterday from the Disaster Management Office (DMO).

As the Government moved to close the emergency shelters, the families who have been identified by DMO as the ones without homes received much-needed help.

The families received tarpaulins, tents, hygiene kits and other survival tools such as chainsaws, hammers, mosquito nets, blankets and more. The assistance from DMO was made possible through donations from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and several other donor partners.

Assistant CEO of DMO, Filomena Nelson said the supplies targeted families that needed them the most.

“We are talking about families that have lost everything,” she said. “This includes families whose homes were completely damaged. They are our main focus at the moment.”

For most of the victims in Apia, they were devastated by the flash floods. This includes residents in the Vaimauga area who were being sheltered at Samoa College, NUS and Malifa Primary. The assistance yesterday benefitted many of them.

Other shelters the DMO visited yesterday were at the Nurses’ Home, Matautu EFKS Church, Moata’a Primary School and a few others. The shelter at the Mormon Church in Magiagiwas also visited by DMO.

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